


Herbs and roots

by InkyJustine



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game)
Genre: Bathing/Washing, Domestic Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Nudity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-24
Updated: 2017-02-24
Packaged: 2018-09-26 17:01:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9912431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkyJustine/pseuds/InkyJustine
Summary: "Let us take a bath," Dettlaff said out of the blue, so overpowering was the desire to take in Regis' scent like he knew it from before. In answer, Regis smiled at him, tips of his teeth gleaming in the dark.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lazarebitching](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lazarebitching/gifts).



> A fill for alistairs :)

Dettlaff had always been a light sleeper. Among humans he had never felt quite that comfortable or safe, even though they could not do him any harm, physically at least. So it had only been in the company of lesser vampires that he truly slept. It came as something of a surprise then, to swim up through the layers of consciousness to the feel of fingertips trailing over his bare shoulder blade. Maybe it shouldn't have been, considering who it was, but betrayal had cut surprisingly deep by another. The touch was light, but not light enough that it shouldn't have woken him. There was a mattress underneath his body and the clear memory of going to bed the day before.

Regis. He smelt the herbs and roots that Regis used to cover his smell. It didn't used to be like this, in Dettlaff's experience. Before his demise, Regis had done so and towards the end of his recovery he had began once more to carry all kinds of herbs with him. As soon as he had been able to move unassisted and ventured out among humans, who couldn't smell him, and animals, who could. But in the duration in between, when Regis had been in his care, Dettlaff had gotten used to his scent unblemished by anything. He longed for it now, so he turned over in the bed they shared and pressed his nose into the hollow of Regis' throat.

The answering pleased hum vibrated against his mouth and caressed his ears, made him smile in a tender happiness. For a moment he smelt only herbs until it faded and he could smell Regis underneath. His palm came up almost on it's own to rest against Regis's bare flank.

"Are you awake, Dettlaff?", Regis asked, voice low in the darkness of their bedroom. The heavy curtains kept the light out, but they could see perfectly anyway. Dettlaff let Regis feel the brush of his lashes as he opened his eyes.

"Of course I am," Dettlaff assured him, before pulling back just enough to move his mouth higher to slant over Regis'. Quiet moments passed as they kissed without hurry. Then Dettlaff pulled back, but did not move away. Just far enough to see Regis face and his black eyes, the unruly state sleep had left his hair in.

"Let us take a bath," Dettlaff said out of the blue, so overpowering was the desire to take in Regis' scent like he knew it from before. In answer, Regis smiled at him, tips of his teeth gleaming in the dark. The expression was enough for Dettlaff to move in again for another press of lips against lips, but then again almost anything Regis did made Dettlaff want to move in and never let him go, most of all his acts of kindness. Dettlaff had never seen such empathy in another being. He had thought to have seen it in Syanna, now long dead and unmourned except by Dettlaff himself, but he had been wrong. Now the bond between them was enough to assure him that he was not wrong in trusting the other vampire, his blood brother and more.

"Do you want to stay in bed or take a bath?", Regis teased him when Dettlaff had rolled him underneath his body, covering him with his own. If Dettlaff didn't know better he could almost fool himself into thinking that he was pinning Regis with his weight. He hadn't quite forgotten his plan so much as gotten lost in the feeling of Regis against him. Last night they had made love. Dettlaff was tempted to continue where they had left off.

Almost as if reacting to his thought, Regis pushed gently at his shoulder and Dettlaff reluctantly moved out of bed, but only after nipping at Regis' shoulder, being careful not to break his skin. The last he wanted to do was hurt Regis again. When the witcher friend of his had chased him... he could still remember the feeling of Regis impaled on his claws. Of course, given their nature, it had healed, but Dettlaff had failed him in that moment.

"What are you thinking about?", Regis asked him curiously and Dettlaff wrapped his arms around him, naked as he was.

"About that night when your friend followed me," Dettlaff let his fingers trail down to the spot on Regis' skin where the wounds had faded long ago and left no mark. Syanna had played him like a puppeteer, like a fool. His nails lengthened and then shortened again just as quickly when Regis' fingernails trailed down his spine and his mouth laid soft and soothing against his jaw.

"Let bygones be bygones, Dettlaff," Regis told him quietly. His hand was at the back of Dettlaff's neck and Dettlaff let himself be pulled forward to rest their foreheads together, just for a moment. He nodded.

Then they stepped away from each other. The house they now inhabited wasn't big, more of a cottage than a mansion, but it was enough for them. Dettlaff would have been satisfied with less, as long as he had the right company and with Regis he had the best he could wish for.

Together, they filled the wooden bathtub they owned with water from the well in front of their house. Bucket upon bucket was heated over a fire that Regis had build in the fireplace and bucket upon bucket upended into the wooden tub. It was tedious work, time consuming. Dettlaff wouldn't have minded to just bath in the river itself even if a heated bath was a pleasure if it meant that Regis would share it with him. In moments such as this, Dettlaff missed the warm ponds of distant lands. In truth, heat or cold made little difference to their kind, but it made them stand apart from their bestial cousins to take a bath instead of taking a dip in a lake. Even if a lake was faster.

Their worked silently and quickly, mindless of their nude state. For miles there were no humans and the local wildlife did not share humankind's delicate sensibilities. Dettlaff was glad to be far away from them and their schemes.

Then, once they were done and the water stood high enough to allow them both without overflowing, Dettlaff helped Regis into the bath and followed him in.

They had to bend their legs at the knee to fit inside the bathtub, but they didn't mind. The wood was unyielding against Dettlaff's back and Regis was a comfortable weight against his front. He pressed a kiss against the line of Regis' throat when the other vampire tipped his head back against his shoulder.

"Do you like it here, Dettlaff?", Regis asked him and Dettlaff hummed. What a strange question. Dettlaff had never been truly unhappy anywhere he had been, except for when he had been manipulated into killing people that had been kind to him, to save a lover who did not love him after all. Fingers soothed over his own, which had curled into claws once again and were pressing into the palms of his hands. He forced himself to relax. Bygones. He tried to remember that.

"I would like it anywhere as long as you are with me, Regis," he said. It was the truth. He would even live among humans again if Regis wished it so.

Regis let out a little laugh in pleased surprise.

"What about you?", Dettlaff felt compelled to ask. He almost feared the answer and leaned forward to lean his forehead against Regis' shoulder. Syanna's betrayal still felt too fresh. A little desperately he mentally grabbed for the bond they shared to reassure himself of Regis' sincerity, whatever the answer may be.

"It's the same for me," Regis said without any hesitation. Dettlaff smiled against his skin. Without hurry, he let his hands run over every part of Regis that he could reach, cleaning him as much as he just touched for the sake of touching until Regis handed him a slip of soap. He slid a palm over the back of Regis neck, wiping away old sweat and pressed his nose against the spot right after, taking in Regis scent unblemished by anything but water and the soap that Regis had made a few weeks ago. In the water, Regis' thumbs pressed circles into the tops of his thighs. It may have even been some kind of code, if Dettlaff had paid attention.

After a while Regis pushed Dettlaff's questing hands away with a light chuckle and turned around. Dettlaff had to suppose that Regis had deemed himself clean enough. He could have continued touching him for a few more hours. They kissed while Regis let his own hands roam over Dettlaff's form in turn, running the soap over his skin and taking away any sweat or grime there may have been. As Regis tried to move away again afterward, Dettlaff caught him around the waist and Regis all but melted into him.

Once the water ran cold, they left the bathtub. They emptied it out together in the garden and went back inside. Then Dettlaff took Regis in with all his senses.


End file.
